SDA Sabbath School Lessons
Thursday September 5, 1996

The Final Invitation to the World
((Rev. 18:1-24)

How do the three angels' messages relate to God's final appeal to the
world? Rev. 14:6-13; 18:1-4.

The three angels' messages (Rev. 14:6-13) will climax in the "loud cry,"
the final call for all humanity to come to Christ (Rev. 18:1-4). This is
the final invitation to come out of Babylon before the plagues (Rev. 18:4,
8; compare 16:1-21). Just as Satan's counterfeit "three evil spirits" go to
the whole world (Rev. 16:12-16, NIV), so the three angels' messages will
reach their finale in the loud cry.

Study the third angel's message, and give evidence for its particular
relevance to the time after the Sunday law.
Rev. 14:9 (compare Rev. 13:12-15).

How will the Sunday law, to which the loud cry responds, be a sign to us,
indicating our method of giving the final message? Luke 21:20, 21; Rev.
13:14-16.

"The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall be
forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. As the siege of
Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean
Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation in the
decree enforcing the papal sabbath will be a warning to us. It will then be
time to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for
retired homes in secluded places among the mountains." Testimonies for the
Church, vol. 5, pp. 464, 465. (Compare The Great Controversy, pp. 30, 31.)

"As God's commandment-keeping people, we must leave the cities. As did
Enoch, we must work in the cities but not dwell in them. Evangelism, pp. 77 78.

"Study carefully in the book of Acts the experiences of Paul and the other
apostles, for God's people in our day must pass through similar experience."
Last Day Events, p. 148.

Remind yourself of the wonderful assurances of Christ's presence with His
faithful people in the difficult experiences they must face before He comes.
Matt. 10:19, 20; John 16:33; Rom. 8:38, 39; Rev. 7:14-17. "The true
Christian will stand firm as a rock, his faith stronger, his hope brighter,
than in days of prosperity." The Great Controversy, p. 602.